US puts Pakistan on ‘reconsider travel’ advisory

ISLAMABAD: The United States has revised its travel advisory for Pakistan, bringing it down to the Level 3 category of ‘reconsider travel’ over coronavirus fears and continuing attacks by militants, the state department said this week.

“Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to COVID-19 and terrorism,” an advisory on September 08 said. “Some areas have increased risk.” The advisory said that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued a Level 3 travel health notice for Pakistan due to COVID-19 as the government had lifted stay-at-home orders and allowed the resumption of intercity domestic travel and mass transit services in most cities, international media reported. Pakistan was previously in the Level 4 ‘do not travel’ category.

The State Department said Pakistan’s security environment had improved since 2014 when Pakistani security forces undertook concerted counter terrorist and counter militant operations.

“There are greater security resources and infrastructure in the major cities, particularly Islamabad, and security forces in these areas may be more readily able to respond to an emergency compared to other areas of the country. While threats still exist, terrorist attacks are rare in Islamabad,” the advisory said.

However, it said militants could still attack with little or no warning, targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist locations, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and government facilities.